The Panther boys basketball team
registered their third win of the season by upending former
Panther Ryan Lufts Kerkovern-Murdock-Sunburg team at Tracy
Tuesday night by a score of 65-59. The win improved
Tracy/Milroy/Balatons season record to 3-18 and 1-12 in the
212 Conference.

The Panthers led 13-11 at the end of one
period of play and increased that to 29-20 at the intermission.
With about 1 minute remaining in the third period the Saints
increased their intensity and pulled off a 13-0 run to take their
first lead in the game at 52-48. TMB came back and out-scored KMS
7-0 to regain the lead at 55-52, with 3:34 to play on the
strength of Taylor Rignells three pointer from the corner.

Andrew Prairie hit a basket to make the
score 57-54 with 1:22 showing and then fed a nice pass to Rignell
for a lay-up at 2:06 giving T/M/B the lead 59-57. Two free throw
by Derek Radke with 19.5 seconds remaining, two more by Rignell
with 16.4 seconds left in the game and 2 free throws by Sean Kirk
with 3.5 seconds on the clock completed the Panther scoring.

The Panthers had four players in double
figures, Radke with 16, Rignell 15, and Kirk and Prairie with 12
each. The Panthers pulled down 49 rebounds (Kirk 16) to 27, had
11 assists (Kirk 5) to 8, 7 steals to 4, 11 blocks (G. Knott 5)
to 5 and turned the ball over 13 times to 19 for the visitors.
TMB hit 24 of 46 two pointers for 52 % and were 3 of 12 on three
pointers for 25 % while the Saints hit 24 of 63 two pointers for
38 % and were 3 of 13 on threes for 23 %.

We challenged the boys at the
half, said Panther Coach Nat Boyer. It was laid on
the line right there, it was our game for the taking. After a
mental lapse to end the third quarter and to begin the fourth
quarter, the team came out of a timeout and took control of the
game. Following our 0-7 free throw shooting in the first half, we
came back out and shot 8-9 in the second half, which was a major
factor in the game. As a coaching staff we are very proud of
these young men and the way they responded to the adversity they
faced tonight.

The Panthers were within 3 points at
intermission but hit a scoring drought in the first four minutes
of the third quarter.

We just have to keep working hard
as a team, said Panther Coach Nat Boyer. Each member
of this team knows how they can and need to improve individually
as well as the entire team knowing how we need to improve as a
unit. We went with a different line-up tonight and at times it
put us at a disadvantage as far as height, but it also put us at
a an advantage as far as speed and ballhandling with a four guard
line-up.

The Panthers were out-rebounded 31-25
with MACCRAY collecting 14 offensive boards to the Panthers
9. The Panthers found themselves in foul trouble in the first
half and the trend continued into the second half as well. TMB
recorded a season-high 11 blocks which turned into 8 fast break
points. Sean Kirk, Taylor Rignell and Andrew Prairie led the
scoring with 11 points each. The Panthers had 7 assists to 5 for
the Wolverines, 6 steals to 5, 11 blocks to 6 and turned the ball
over 21 times to 12 for MACCRAY. T/M/B hit 14 of 43 two-point
field goal attempts for 33% and were 2 of 8 on threes for 25%.

The Panthers improved to 19-3. The
Tigers, coached by 1991 Tracy graduate Bruce Remme, fell to 19-4.
The Tigers are rated eighth in state Class AAA polls.

We were ready to play on Friday
night, said Panther Co-Coach Ric Haberman. The last
two games show us how well we can play when we are ready and how
poorly we can play when we are not ready for a game.

The previous night, the Panthers had
been upset by Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg.

The Tigers hit the first four shots they
took, all from three-point range. Those four shots and a free
throw gave them a 13-10 lead midway in the first quarter
(Marshall hit 9 three point shots in the game). TMB came back to
go ahead 21-16 but a late spurt by the Tigers put them up 23-21
at the end of a fast first period. The Panthers regained the lead
by the end of the first half 37-36 and led 51-48 at the
three-quarter mark. TMB missed several free throws in the last
period. The Tigers hit a three pointer just as the game ended.

Tessa Nelson and Ashlee Domine led the
Panthers in scoring with 19 points each.

TMB had 31 rebounds to 24 for the
Tigers, 12 assists to 11, 4 steals to 12 and 4 blocks to 2. An
aggressive pressure Tiger defense forced 18 Panther turnovers
while Marshall committed only 6.

The Panther B squad lost to Marshall
23-40 with Daniels leading the scoring with 7 points while Fultz
tallied 6, Carpenter added 4 while Haecherl, Miller and Kirk each
had 2 points.

Kerkoven/Murdock-Sunburg improved to
15-8 and 7-6 in the 212 Conference with a 60-47 victory over the
Panthers Thursday.

The loss knocked the Panthers out of a
tie for the 212 Conference championship with Yellow Medicine
East.

We werent ready to play
Thursday night, said Haberman. However KMS has a good
team, they finished in third place in the conference. Hopefully
we learned a good lesson.

The Panthers fell behind 14-5. In the
first period, and were outscored 20-12 in the final period.

Nelson led the Pantherswith 23 points,
12 rebounds, 4 steals and 5 blocks. TMB had 22 rebounds to 30 for
KMS, 7 steals to 5, 12 assists to 12 6 blocks to 5 and turned the
ball over 10 times to 13 for KMS.

KMS won the B-squad game 31-26. Mallory
Fultz led the TMB scoring with 8 points, followed by Lindsey
Daniels with six.

Panther wrestlers are preparing for the
individual tournament at Pipestone Friday and Saturday.

It is very difficult to predict
who has the best chance of qualifying for the state tournament,
so much depends upon the luck of the draw, said Panther
Coach Brian Michelson. However I would say that Paul
Carlson, Cole Cooreman, Adam Snyder and Chia Thao have the best
chances, with Luke Prairie a sleeper.

Tracy/Milroy/Balaton wrestlers were
eliminated from team competition last week, after giving
defending state champion Adrian a battle. The Dragons won 49-13.

Despite the final score we really
did much better against Adrian than we did back in January,
said Michelson. The kids wrestled with much more intensity
and we won four matches (almost five). The Panthers got
wins from Chia Thao, Luke Prairie, Ross Ryan and Paul Carlson.
Adam Snyder lost a tough 5-4 decision at 125 pounds.